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3 Months Jail Term: Sentenced Nigerian Police Boss, Baba Denies Knowledge Of Court Verdict Ordering Reinstatement Of Dismissed Officer

3 Months Jail Term: Sentenced Nigerian Police Boss, Baba Denies Knowledge Of Court Verdict Ordering Reinstatement Of Dismissed Officer
November 29, 2022

The court’s decision followed a suit filed by Patrick Okoli, a former police officer who claimed that he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the police force.

The Nigeria Police Force has denied that the Inspector General, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, defied an order issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 21, 2011.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday sentenced IGP Baba to three months in jail for contempt of court, insisting that “If at the end of the three months, the contemnor remains recalcitrant and still refuses to purge his contempt, he shall be committed for another period and until he purges his contempt.”

The court’s decision followed a suit filed by Patrick Okoli, a former police officer who claimed that he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the police force.

Justice Olajuwon on Tuesday said that though the Police Service Commission (PSC) recommended Okoli’s reinstatement, a decision that was affirmed by the court, the IGP refused to comply with the order.

The court also ordered the payment of N10 million to the applicant, being special and general damages for the unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional denial of his rights and privileges as a Senior Officer of the police force from 1993 till date.

But reacting to the report of the court ruling on Tuesday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the police were never aware of the court order, adding that the IGP would never disregard a court ruling and rule of law.

Adejobi said, “The Nigeria Police Force wishes to state emphatically that the office of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, did not disregard Court Order or rule of law as the office is not aware of any Court Order, during the current IGP's tenure, with respect to a matter making the round in the media that the IGP disobeyed a Court Order for the reinstatement of a dismissed officer of the Force.

“It is instructive to note that the case in point concerns an officer who was dismissed as far back as 1992, a few years after the current IGP joined the Nigeria Police Force, based on available facts gleaned from the reports.

“The most recent judgment on the matter was given in 2011 which should ordinarily not fall under the direct purview of the current administration of the Force. Thus, the news is strange and astonishing.

“The IGP has however directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Legal Unit to investigate the allegation in a bid to ascertain the position of the court and proffer informed legal advice for the IGP's prompt and necessary action.

“The Inspector-General of Police reiterates his commitment to upholding the rule of law and synergizing with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice for an improved criminal justice system.”